He burst upon the scene as a talented teenager when he scored a breezy 110 for Bombay against the Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match at Nagpur in 1975, in the process taking a heavy toll of Bedi and Prasanna, then at their peak. On his immense potential, he was straightaway inducted into the Indian team but success was rather slow in coming. It was not until the tour of Australia in 1977-78 that Dilip Vengsarkar established himself in the side and for the next 15 years he was one of the batting bulwarks. Tall and slimly built, Vengsarkar was basically an elegant strokeplayer but on his day - which was often - he could be a tormentor of even the strongest attacks. He was India's No 3 for many years and from that pivotal position guided the fortunes of the country's batting for more than a decade.

From the late 70s to the late 80s, Vengsarkar was among the best batsmen in the country and, during a purple patch in the 80s, he was very nearly the leading player in the world. From 1986 to 1988, in 16 Tests, he scored eight hundreds. Vengsarkar's best known feat of course is being the first to score three hundreds against England at Lord's. A superb player of the drive, Vengsarkar could also pull effortlessly and hook fearlessly. With Sunil Gavaskar he holds the Indian record for the second wicket in Tests - 344 unbroken against
West Indies at Calcutta in 1978-79. He led the country in ten Tests, but lost the captaincy in 1989 following a controversial tour to the USA to play some festival matches. He lost his place in the side temporarily and though brought back for a few games in the early 90s he was never really the same commanding player. At the time of his retirement in 1992, he was second only to Gavaskar in runs and centuries scored in Tests. He now runs the Elf cricket academy in
Mumbai.
Partab Ramchand

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